Accounting apparatus and method



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Patented Nov. 19, 1929 AUNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LUTHER WATTEBS AND SAMUEL F. LLOYD, OF EDWARDSVILLE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGN- ORS, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, T0 REMINGTON RAND INC., OF NEW YORK, N. Y.,

A CORPORATION 0F DELAWARE ACCOUNTING APPARATUS .AND METHOD Appucation flied April 22, 191s. serial No. 229,996.

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for finding and auditing accounts.

In modern accounting systems, the accounts are kept on cards or sheets which are arranged in trays or ledgers. In order to facilitate finding of such accounts, these cards are arranged either alphabetically or nu- In View of the fact, however, that the alphabetical system has only a limited application on account of the limited possible subdivisions, in the approved modern system, the numerical system, in which the. cards are arranged in numerical order, and in which each card has a given number, is universally used. Where, however, there are a large number of accounts requiring a large number of cards, means must be provided to facilitate the finding of any particular account. Accordingly,I there are provided pilot or index cards which locate and subdivide the accounting cards into groups and subdivisions of those groups, these pilot cards being usually provided with tabs which are arranged above the level of the accounting cards.

While the card system of accounting is a great improvement over the bound ledger system, in its present form it has many limitations on account of the manual operation required to find a given account. When it is desired to find a given account, the accountant must search through the different groups to find the group containing the account; he must then search through the subdivision of that groupto find the subdivision containing the desired account; and he must then search through the cards of that subdivision' to Ifind the card containing the desired account. These operations not only require a good deal of time, but also require the handling and fingering of cards other than the desired card containing the account. Consequently, in view of the fact that a number of cards are always handled and fingered every time an account is to be found, the cards are subjected to unnecessary wear and soiling, therefore requiring frequent replacement of new cards/with the attendant time required to copy the account or items on the replaced or renewed card.

When a card is to be returned, the accountant must again find the group and subdivision in order to replace the withdrawn account in its proper subdivision and group. This again not only requires considerable time, but also again subjects the other cards to handling and fingering, with the resultant waste of time and resultant Wear. In such a manual system, the withdrawn card must also be placed in a definite unitary position in its subdivision, in order to facilitate the finding of the replaced card. This, of course, in itself, subjects all of the cards in a given subdivision to handling, with the attendant wear.

One of the objections to the loose leaf or card system is the possibility of an account becoming lost or misplaced, and this has some- -what retarded the adoption of this system, as

distinguished from the bound ledger system, 1n which an account cannot, of course, be misplaced. In order to find a misplaced or lost account, it is frequently necessary to go over the entire system, involving a great deal of time, especially where the system contains thousands of accounts.

Where a card system is used, these cards cannot be packed closely, for the reason that suicient space must be-allowed to permit suiiclent separation, in order that the card number may become readily visible during the search of the accountant in finding or replacing a card containing the desired account. Consequently, a tray of given 'dimensions cannot be filled to its limit, as would be the case if the cards could be closely packed; the space eiiciency of the present manual card system, therefore, is rather low; this is an important item where the system contains thousands of accounts, and where space is, as is usually the case, an important item.

One of the. objects of this invention therefore, is to provide a'method of and apparatus for indin accounts which will overcome the obj ectiona le features inherent to the present manual system.

` In accordance with this invention, therelocating 

